That is a good point, but I have to say that I am not convinced that it is just a Labour-run council that might have chosen to invest their staff pensions in this way; I strongly suspect that all political parties are guilty of this. While this is, of course, a matter for local authorities, it is also the sort of great campaigning work that MPs can do with their local councillors. It is even more important that they do that, given that they now have this great responsibility for public health.

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While disinvesting from tobacco corporations would be a great step for pension funds to take, there is so much more which could be done to make them more ethical and sustainable, while remaining profitable. See, for example, proposals on how the East Sussex County Council Pension Fund could be changed: http://esccpensionfund.wordpress.com/proposals-for-change/ The proposals don't just include divestment from certain corporations, but also suggest increasing transparency, creating criteria for what they will invest in for the social good as well as actively engaging with corporations that they invest in. Read the link for more information.